Threat to Dublin-Sligo rail services

29 Aug 2012

0

While no decision has yet been made to cut the Dublin-Sligo rail services, Irish Rail has confirmed to the Leader that “in view of the impact of the ongoing economic recession on our business, we have to examine the level of demand for our train services on all routes at all different times of the day and the week”.

While no decision has yet been made to cut the Dublin-Sligo rail services, Irish Rail has confirmed to the Leader that “in view of the impact of the ongoing economic recession on our business, we have to examine the level of demand for our train services on all routes at all different times of the day and the week”.

Barry Kenny, Corporate Communications Manager at Irish Rail, confirmed in a statement: “Where there are trains that are greatly under-utilised, it may be necessary for us to amend the schedules accordingly.”

He added: “Before we can do this, we are required to obtain the approval of the National Transport Authority (NTA). We also intend to publish any draft schedules on our website, and invite our customers to give us feedback as part of a public consultation on the proposed schedules.”

Mr Kenny advised, however, that no changes would occur to the schedule for the remainder of 2012.

Speaking about passenger numbers on the Dublin-Sligo line, Mr Kenny confirmed that a total of 1.23 million passenger journeys were made on the line in 2011 and that “year-to-date 2012 sees demand largely unchanged”.

“The busiest times daily are the commuting focused hours (morning arrivals into Dublin, afternoon/early evening departures from Dublin), and Friday afternoon (Dublin-Sligo) and Sunday afternoon (Sligo-Dublin), would be the busiest times of the week.

“Journeys beyond the commuter belt on the 19:05 would be very low, indicating a limited demand for late evening services at present,” he added.

If you wish, you can contact us using any of the methods below: Longford Leader,Leader House,Dublin Road, Co LongfordEmail: newsroom@longfordleader.ieTelephone: 043 3345241

This website and its associated newspaper are full participating members of the Press Council of Ireland and supports the Office of the Press Ombudsman. This scheme in addition to defending the freedom of the press, offers readers a quick, fair and free method of dealing with complaints that they may have in relation to articles that appear on our pages. To contact the Office of the Press Ombudsman go to www.pressombudsman.ie or www.presscouncil.ieLongford Leader provides news, events and sport features from the Longford area. For the best up to date information relating to Longford and the surrounding areas visit us at Longford Leader regularly or bookmark this page.